Chapter 2406 — Simulated Pill Refining

So Wei Zhao could not tell whether the martial technique had always possessed this capacity, or whether the technique had linked the two of them together and his golden finger had taken effect once more. Either way, it was good news for Wei Zhao, because now he could keep track of Han Jingyi's physical stamina in real time.

Han Jingyi's body kept absorbing the true qi Wei Zhao channeled into her. The heart method of Heaven-Sent Spring Rain circulated ceaselessly within Wei Zhao, and so long as he did not stop, true qi would pour into Han Jingyi's body in an endless stream.

Yet Wei Zhao soon discovered that the third form of Heaven-Sent Spring Rain still could not keep up with Han Jingyi's consumption. Though it looked as if his true qi were continually replenishing her, the replenishment actually fell short of the drain; the depletion merely seemed much slower.

And Han Jingyi truly felt much more at ease. The true qi within her body seemed inexhaustible, and she could calm her mind while condensing pill fire, no longer worrying that her stamina and true qi might give out at any moment. This simulated refining, one could say, was a great success.

At this point in an ordinary refining session, signs of failing stamina and exhausted true qi would long since have appeared. There was no way she could still be this vigorous.

But in the midst of her joy, Han Jingyi quickly noticed a problem: although Wei Zhao's true qi kept flowing to her, the supply could not cover the drain, and it came in slower than she spent it.

"Brother Wei Zhao, could you speed up the transfer of true qi a little?" Han Jingyi asked urgently once she sensed this.

"Sure," Wei Zhao said. He stopped driving the third form and began to drive the fourth form of Heaven-Sent Spring Rain.

Wei Zhao had not expected that refining so many pills would consume such an enormous amount of stamina and true qi. If one were refining higher-grade pills, how much true qi and stamina would that take? No wonder pill refiners were all so arrogant and so reluctant to refine pills for others.

A single refining session consumed so much true qi and stamina. Although a pill refiner's heart method and incantation were rather special and could naturally restore true qi and stamina in a relatively short time, that still varied from person to person.

Han Jingyi was a special case, able to recover her true qi and stamina in a very short time, though that too was because her level was rather low. If a Heaven-rank pill refiner were refining a third-grade pill, restoring himself would probably take a very long while.

And the longer time went on, the more Wei Zhao felt this. For very quickly, every last bit of true qi in his body had been channeled to Han Jingyi, and he became a cultivator utterly drained of true qi.

Han Jingyi's refining continued, but the true qi in her own body was also being consumed rapidly.

Sensing that Wei Zhao's true qi was no longer flowing to her in an endless stream, Han Jingyi was slightly taken aback. But she roughly calculated the time remaining on the tablet, and judged that her stamina and true qi should last until the simulated refining was complete...

At last, Han Jingyi's simulated refining came to an end. Even though it was only a simulation, it consumed the same amount of true qi as a normal refining session. By the end, Han Jingyi had less than a third of her true qi and stamina left in her body.

"Phew... it's finally over!" Han Jingyi wiped the sweat from her forehead, then asked with some delight, "Brother Wei Zhao, why did you stop transferring true qi midway?"

"Every bit of true qi in me went to you. There's not a drop left..." Wei Zhao said with a wry smile.

"Ah... so that's how it is..." Han Jingyi nodded. "But luckily there was still enough true qi. I have some left in me. If the two of us work together, we can refine several second-grade pills at once."

"That's true..." Wei Zhao said. "By the way, how much true qi would refining a third-grade pill take? If we refined just one, would our combined true qi be enough?"

"Probably not." Han Jingyi shook her head. "Jingjing has calculated it in her spare time too. The true qi needed to refine one third-grade pill is at least five times what it takes to refine one second-grade pill..."

"Five times..." Wei Zhao drew a sharp breath. It seemed that no one short of a Heaven-rank expert could refine one, for the drain on true qi was simply too enormous.

Wei Zhao could only set aside this impractical notion for the time being. If refining one third-grade pill took exactly the sum of their combined true qi, or slightly more, he could have accepted it.

After all, once Wei Zhao's own true qi was spent, Han Jingyi's body still held a great deal of true qi, and while Han Jingyi's true qi was being consumed, Wei Zhao could quickly restore his own with the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art. But that method could not be used in succession.

Because Han Jingyi's true qi could only sustain one round. Once Wei Zhao's restored true qi was exhausted again, Han Jingyi would have no true qi left to draw on, and the refining would fail because it had stopped.

According to Han Jingyi, after refining a single second-grade pill she was already rather spent, which meant her stamina was only enough for one second-grade pill. Add Wei Zhao's two portions of true qi to her one, and that made only three times. Even if Wei Zhao had somewhat more true qi than Han Jingyi, the amount of true qi held by an expert at the peak of the mid-Earth rank and one at the early Earth rank truly did not differ by much.

After all, only a gap of a full major rank produced a difference like heaven and earth; between minor ranks the difference was not very great.

So there was no way to reach five times, unless another person like Wei Zhao stood by as a substitute, continuing to drive Heaven-Sent Spring Rain to sustain Han Jingyi's refining. Otherwise, for the moment Wei Zhao could think of no other solution.

"Maybe it won't take that much..." Seeing Wei Zhao's disappointment, Han Jingyi hurried to say, "It's just that Jingjing's level is too low right now. She can barely condense a third-grade pill fire, but she cannot change the fire's size or temperature, so she has no way to simulate and calculate in finer detail exactly how much true qi a third-grade pill requires!"